CHICOPEE - City officials have agreed to shrink the size of a proposed high-density zone, citing controversy over the proposal.

The original 40R Overlay District was to measure 81 acres and include most of Chicopee Center, an area off Hampden Street, parts of Bonneville Avenue and the former Chicopee High School [View the complete text of the Chicopee Center 40R Overlay Zoning Ordinance].

Now the proposal is to cut the size to just a portion of Chicopee Center. The district will now include the former Cabotville Industrial complex and about four blocks between Exchange and Front streets, City Planner Catherine L. Brown said.

“This is what democracy is all about,” Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette said. “We didn’t need a 40R District that was 80 percent too big, so 80 percent is out of it.”

The proposal was created under a state law which encourages smart growth by streamlining the permitting process and allowing homes to be built on smaller parcels, Brown said.

The city will still be eligible for a $600,000 one-time grant for creating a district, as well as an additional $3,000 every time a home is built that fits the affordable housing guidelines, Brown said.

Michael Bissonnette

Bissonnette said he understood a number of people were scared about the proposal and took responsibility for failing to explain it well.

There were only a small number of vacant parcels which could have truly been developed under the specialized zone, but state calculations would have allowed as many as 3,000 homes, which frightened people.

A number of residents and city councilors aired concerns over the original proposal, saying they believed it could negatively change the city.

Several School Committee members said they were especially worried about overcrowding in schools if too many developers took advantage of the zone.

City Councilors, who had delayed voting on the zone after a meeting April 30, said they were happy to see the change.

“It is a compromise I think we were all looking for,” City Councilor George R. Moreau said.

School Committee member Adam D. Lamontagne strongly opposed the larger zone because he was concerned about the impact it could have on the schools. He said he supports the proposal for the smaller zone.

“I think it is better for the city overall,” he said. “I was critical of it before because it is just too much land.”

One of the reasons the city will be able to cut the size of the district is because New York City developer Joshua Guttman, who is planning to convert one of the former Cabotville Mill buildings into condominiums, has agreed to include his project in the zone, Jeffrey B. Sagalyn, his lawyer and spokesman, said.

“He is not an advocate or detractor of it,” Sagalyn said. “He will abide by what the city wants to do.”

Previously Guttman said he did not want to be involved in the district because he was concerned it would create a longer delay on the project or could cost more money.

Guttman is planning to renovate about 300,000 square feet of space on five floors and turn them into 227 condominium units. About 80 percent of those units will be one-bedroom lofts, he said.

Because of his agreement to be involved with the overlay district, Guttman agreed to sell 45 condominiums to people who meet the income guidelines, Sagalyn said.

He has applied to extend a special permit, originally issued in August 2008, so he can move forward with construction of the $20 million project.

Guttman is ready to apply for building permits, one for demolition to build a new stairwell required by fire and building inspectors, another to improve ceilings and a third to replace windows on the first through fourth floors.

After architectural drawings are finished, he is hoping to begin the first phase of the project, which will build 46 condominiums, Sagalyn said.